Photographic-camera attachment.



No. 704,378. Patented July 8, 1902.

J. A. ROBERTSON & C. E HUTCHINGS.

PHOTOGRAPH") CAMERA ATTACHMENT. (Application filed Mar. 13, 1902.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. ROBERTSON AND CHARLES E. HUTCHINGS, OF ROCHESTER, NElV YORK, ASSIGNORS TO ROCHESTER OPTICAL AND CAMERA COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER, NElV YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEXV YORK.

PHOTOG RAPHlC-CAM ERA ATTACHMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 704,378, dated July 8, 1902.

Application filed March 13, 1902. Serial No. 98,107. (No model.)

To to whom it may concern: Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 Be it known that we, JOHN A. ROBERTSON indicates a camera box or casing, and 2 the and CHARLES E. HUTCHINGS, citizens of the hinged or drop front thereof, the same being United States, residing at Rochester, in the of well-known and ordinary construction.

5 county ofMonroe and State of New York,have The numeral 3 indicates the lens-carriage,

invented new and useful Improvements in which is slidably arranged ona suitable track Photographic-Camera Attachments, of which or guideway 4, attached to the bottom of the the following is a specification. camera-casing, and which is also free to be Thisinvention relates to photographic camadjusted back and forth upon a guideway 5,

to eras, and especially to an attachment for lockconsisting of a flat metallic plate, which is ing the lens-carriage in place; and it has for suitably attached to the inner or upper side its object to provide improved means for auof the drop-front 2 and forms, in effect, an tomatically locking the lens-carriage in place extension of the track or guideway at. Formed when the latter is adjusted for photographing on the under side of the base 6 of the lens i 5 distant objects or views. carriage are two longitudinal parallel ribs or To this end our invention consists in the flanges, which are provided on their adjacent features and in the construction, combinavertical faces with longitudinal grooves 8, tion, and arrangement of parts hereinafter said grooved ribs engaging or straddling the described, and particularly pointed out in the opposite edges of the guideways 4 and 5 and 20 claims following the description, reference guiding the lens-carriage as the latter is adbeing had to the accompanying drawings, justed back and forth. 7o forming'apart of this specification, wherein Disposed on the upper side of the plate 5,

Figure lis a top plan view of a camera conforming the guideway, on the drop-front at struct'ed in accordance with our invention, any suitable point is a catch or locking device *2 5 showing the drop-front lowered and the lenscomprising a metallic plate 9, provided on its carriage partially drawn out. Fig. 2 is a simiopposite sides with depending flanges 10, lar View, a portion being broken away and which loosely clasp or engage the opposite the camera-casing being in section, the lenssides of the plate 5. The plate 9 is provided carriage and bellows being removed. Fig. 3 on one end near its opposite sides or edges 30 is a sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of with two rearwardly-projecting spring-fingers Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the 11, which are provided at their extremities 8o lens-carriage and its guideway. Fig. 5 is a with laterally-projecting beveled heads 12 detail bottom perspective view of the base of for the purpose hereinafter explained. Inthe lens-carriage. Fig. 6 is a detail perspecterm ediate said fingers the plate 9 is provided 5 tive View of the adjustable locking device. with arearwardly-proj ecting tongue 13,which Cameras have heretofore been provided is longitudinally slotted, as at 14, the side 8g with means for locking the lens-carriage in walls or edges of said slot being beveled or place when adjusted for photographing disdownwardly inclined, as indicated at 15. tant views or objects; and it is the purpose Tapped into the plate 6 is a screw 16, which 40 of the present invention to provide an impasses through the slot 145, and the head 17 of proved locking attachment of the character said screw when tightened up presses against described which will be convenient, simple, the inclined or beveled edges of the slot 15 and economical in construction and efficient and firmly and securely holds the lockingatin operation and wherein the locking attachtachment in place upon the plate 6.

45 ment may be readily adjusted to allow for Formed on the inner or adjacent vertical any variation in the focal lengths of different sides of the ribs or flanges 7 before referred lenses and which when so adjusted may be to are two notches or recesses 18, and when easily, quickly, and securely fixed in its adthe lens-carriage is moved out upon the guidej usted position. Way 5 a certain distance the beveled heads 12 of the spring fingers 11 will engage said notches or recesses and lock the carriage to the guideway 5.

The plate 5, forming the guideway for the drop-front, is slidably or adjustably secured to the latter in any suitable manner, so that the said guideway can be adjusted back and forth relatively to the camera-casing. In the present instance the plate 5 is shown as being provided on its under side with a narrower plate 19, provided on its opposite edges with grooves or ribs 20, forming laterally-projecting flanges 21, and rigidly attached to the upper inner side of the drop-front 2 is a plate having upwardly-turned sides or flanges 22, which are provided at their upper ends with inwardly-turned flanges 23,which projectinto the grooves 20 of the plate 19, thus forming a track upon which the guideway 5 is adapted to freely move. Attached to the under side of the plate 19 is a longitudinal rack 24:, and journaled in suitable bearings attached to the upper or inner side of the drop-front 2 is a transverse shaft 25, provided at its inner end with a pinion 26,which engages said rack, and said shaft is provided at its outer end with a milled knob 27, by means of which the said rod may be readily turned to rotate it and through the medium of the pinion and rack adjust the guideway back and forth toward and from the camera-casing.

In practice it is found that there exists a considerable variation in the focal lengths of lenses that are intended to be fitted to cameras of the same size, and by means of the present invention the lens-carriage may be adjusted to a proper position for photographing distant objects or views-*say,for example, wherein the view is distant a hundred feet or more-and the locking attachment may then be set so that its beveled heads will engage the notches 18, formed in the ribs '7 on the under side of the base of the lens-carriage. After this has been done the screw 16 is tightened up, firmly securing the locking attachment to the plate 5. Thereafter the lens-carriage may be readily moved out at any time until the beveled heads of the spring-fingers engage the notches and hold the lens at the proper point to place the camera in focus for accurately photographing the distant view. When it is desired to focus the lens for the purpose of taking a nearer view, the guideway 5 may be adjusted by means of the rack-and-pinion arrangement before described, thus moving the lens-carriage to the proper point to bring the camera in exact focus.

After the camera-bellows has been folded up and the lens-carriage moved back into the camera box or casing preparatory to folding up or closing the drop-front it is desirable to lock the lens-carriage in its retracted position, so that it will not interfere with the closing movement of the drop-front and so that the lens will be held out of contact with said dropfront, and for this purpose the following.

means are provided: To the upper side of mat the rear or inner end of the plate forming the fixed guideway 4.- is a locking device comprising a plate 28, screwed or otherwise immovably attached to said guideway and provided at its forward end with two forwardlyprojecting horizontal and parallel springfingers 29, having laterally-projecting beveled heads 30 formed on the outer sides of their ends. WVhen the lens-carriage is pushed back within the camera-casing, said springfingers pass between and are compressed by the ribs or flanges 7 on the underside of the base 6 of the lens-carriage, and when the notches 18, before referred to, in said ribs or flanges arrive opposite said beveled heads the latter spring outward and enter said notches, thus locking the lens-carriage in its retracted position.

Having described our invention, what we claim is- 1. In a camera, the combination with a guideway, of a lens-carriage adj nstable thereon, a locking device adjustably arranged on the guideway and constructed and arranged to engage the lens -carriage and automatically lock the latter at a predetermined point when the lens-carriage is drawn out, substantially as described.

2. In a camera, the combination with a guideway, of a lens-carriage adjustable thereon, a locking device movably arranged on said guideway toward and from the carriage, means for locking said locking device on the guideway, and means carried by the lenscarriage and arranged to be automatically engaged by said locking device to lock the lens-carriage at a predetermined point when drawn out, substantially as described.

3. In a camera, the combination with a guideway, of a lens-carriage movably arranged on said guideway, a locking device carried by said guideway and arranged to automatically engage the lens-carriage and lock the latter at a predetermined point when drawn out, and means for adjusting said guideway backward and forward, substantially as described.

4;. In a camera, the combination with a guideway, of a lens-carriage movably arranged thereon, of a locking device comprisin g a plate adj ustably mounted on said guideway and provided with spring-fingers adapted to engage and interlock with the lens-carriage, substantially as described.

'5. In a camera, the combination with a guideway and a lens-carriage movably arranged thereon, a lockin g device comprising a plate having depending flanges which engage the opposite sides of said guideway and having spring-fingers constructed and arranged to engage the lens-carriage and lock the latter in place, substantially as described.

6. In a camera, the combination with a guideway and a lens-carriage movably arranged thereon, of a locking device comprisin g a plate provided at its opposite sides with.

depending flanges arranged to engage the opposite sides of said guideway and having a centrally-slotted portion, a set-screw passing through said slotted portion and holding said plate in place, the said plate being pro vided with springfingers having beveled heads adapted to engage corresponding recesses in the lens carriage, substantially as described.

7. In a camera, the combination With a guideway, of a lens carriage movably arranged thereon, a locking device on the guideway and comprising a plate secured to the guideway and having two horizontal springfingers provided on the outer sides .of their JOHN A. ROBERTSON. CHAS. E. HUTCHINGS.

Witnesses:

MINNA STULL, GEO. W. REILLY, 

